READ List of Famous Footballers

List of famous footballers, with photos, bios, and other information. Who are the top footballers in the world? This includes the most prominent and best footballers, living and dead, both in Europe and abroad. This list of notable footballers is ordered by their level of prominence, and you can sort the info by column.

Famous football players names include David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and of course, Lionel Messi. From reputable, prominent, and well known footballers to the lesser known footballers of today, these are the top best professionals in this field.

If you want to answer the question, "Who are the most famous footballers ever?" start your search here. You can use this list to create a new list, re-rank it to fit your views, then share it with your Twitter followers, Facebook friends or with any other social networks you use on a regular basis.

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi Cuccittini is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He is a forward and serves ...more

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham OBE, is an English former professional footballer. He played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, Milan, LA Galaxy, Paris Saint-Germain, and the ...more

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, GOIH, known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid C.F. and the Portugal national team. He is a ...more

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco is an Argentine former footballer. He has served as a manager and coach at other clubs as well as for the national team of Argentina. Many experts, football ...more

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, commonly known as Neymar or Neymar Jr., is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Spanish club FC Barcelona and is the captain for the Brazil ...more

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney is an English professional footballer who plays for and captains both Manchester United and the England national team. He has played much of his career as a forward, but he has ...more

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for French club Paris Saint-Germain and the Swedish national team for which he is captain. Ibrahimović started his ...more

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini is an Italian former footballer who played as a left back or central defender, being adept with either foot although naturally right-footed. He spent all 25 seasons of his ...more

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Mexican club Querétaro. His main playing position is as an ...more

Mesut Özil Mesut Özil is a German footballer who plays for English club Arsenal and the German national team. Özil has been a youth national team member since 2006, and a member of the German ...more

Andrés Iniesta Andrés Iniesta Luján is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and the Spain national team as a central midfielder. Iniesta came through La Masia, the ...more

Xavi Xavier "Xavi" Hernández i Creus is a Spanish footballer who plays for FC Barcelona as a central midfielder. Xavi came through La Masia, the Barcelona youth academy, at the age ...more

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie is a Dutch footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United and is the captain of the Netherlands national team. He is a youth product of Feyenoord. Having joined Arsenal ...more

Vyacheslav Malafeev Vyacheslav Aleksandrovich Malafeev is a Russian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Russian Premier League team Zenit Saint Petersburg. He is a one-club man, having spent all 14 of his ...more

Pelé Pele, is almost universally regarded as the greatest player in the history of football. Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil, Pele emerged on to the ...more

Justin Fashanu Justinus Soni "Justin" Fashanu was an English footballer who played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997. He was known by his early clubs to be gay, and came out to the press ...more

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Uruguayan national team as a striker. In July 2014, Suárez ...more

Zinedine Zidane Zinedine Yazid Zidane, nicknamed "Zizou", is a former French footballer and current coach of Real Madrid Castilla. He played as an attacking midfielder for the French national team, ...more

Luís Figo Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, OIH, is a Portuguese retired footballer. He played as a winger for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale before retiring on 31 May ...more

Yaya Touré Gnégnéri Yaya Touré, known as Yaya Touré, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for English club Manchester City and the Ivory Coast ...more

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo, Ufficiale OMRI, is an Italian professional footballer who plays for Italian Serie A club Juventus and the Italian national team. Pirlo is a free-kick specialist, who is usually ...more

Radamel Falcao Radamel Falcao García Zárate, also known as Radamel Falcao, Falcao García or simply as Falcao, is a Colombian footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United on loan ...more

Vinnie Jones Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones is a British actor and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder from 1984 to 1999 notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United ...more

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE, is a Scottish former football manager and player who managed Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. His time at the club has led to Ferguson ...more

John Terry John George Terry is an English professional footballer who plays for and captains Chelsea. He commonly plays as a centre back. He was also captain of the England national football team, holding ...more

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry is a retired French professional footballer, who played as a forward. He played for Monaco, Juventus, Barcelona, New York Red Bulls and spent eight years at Arsenal where he ...more

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard, MBE is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League club Liverpool. He has played much of his career as a central midfielder, but he has also been used ...more

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville is an English football coach and former player who currently serves as a coach for the England national football team, and as co-owner of Salford City. Since retiring from ...more

Iker Casillas Iker Casillas Fernández is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for and captains both Real Madrid and the Spain national team as a goalkeeper. In 2008 he was the captain of the ...more

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi "Gigi" Buffon, Ufficiale OMRI, is an Italian goalkeeper who plays for and captains both Serie A club Juventus and the Italy national team. Buffon is the record holder for ...more

Bastian Schweinsteiger Bastian Schweinsteiger is a German footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the German national team, serving as captain. A right-footed player, he usually ...more

David Silva David Josué Jiménez Silva is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for English club Manchester City and the Spanish national team. Silva plays mainly as an attacking ...more

Thiago Silva Thiago Emiliano da Silva, commonly known as Thiago Silva, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazilian national ...more

Djibril Cissé Djibril Cissé is a French footballer who plays as a striker for SC Bastia in Ligue 1. He is well known for his speed and acceleration. Since 2005, he has been Lord of the Manor of ...more

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel "Kun" Agüero Del Castillo is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester City and the Argentina national team. On ...more

Edinson Cavani Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Paris Saint-Germain and the Uruguayan national team. A quick, strong, opportunistic, and ...more

Paul Pogba Paul Labile Pogba is a French professional footballer who plays for Italian club Juventus in Serie A. He operates primarily as a central midfielder and is comfortable at playing both in attack ...more

David Villa David Villa Sánchez is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for American club New York City in Major League Soccer. He is nicknamed El Guaje because as a youngster he ...more

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder, attacking midfielder or defensive midfielder for Manchester City. He is the all-time leading ...more

George Best George Best was a Northern Irish footballer who played as a winger for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. In 1968 he won the European Cup with United, and was named the ...more

Sir Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE was an English footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the English game, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing, as well ...more

Marcelo Vieira Marcelo Vieira da Silva Júnior, known as Marcelo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. Mainly a left back, he can ...more

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás was a Hungarian footballer and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He scored 84 goals in 85 international matches for Hungary, and 514 goals ...more

Ala Al-Sasi Ala'a Mohammed Abdullah Al Sasi is a Yemeni international footballer who plays for Al-Ahli Sana'a and Yemen national football team.

Nwankwo Kanu Nwankwo Kanu, OON, or simply Kanu, is a retired Nigerian footballer who played as a striker. He was a member of and later captained the Nigerian national team for 16 years from 1994 until 2010. ...more

Darren Fletcher Darren Barr Fletcher is a Scottish footballer who plays as a central midfielder for West Bromwich Albion and the Scottish national team. The industrious footballer has also played as a right ...more

Hidetoshi Nakata Hidetoshi Nakata, Cavaliere OSSI, is a retired Japanese football player. He was considered one of the most famous Asian footballers of his generation. Nakata began his professional career in ...more

Gordon Banks Gordon Banks, OBE is a former England international football goalkeeper. He made 628 appearances during a 15-year career in the Football League, and won 73 caps for his country. The IFFHS named ...more

Franck Ribéry Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry, also known as Bilal Yusuf Mohammed as an adopted name since his conversion in 2006 to Islam, is a French footballer currently playing for German Bundesliga ...more

Danny Cipriani Daniel Jerome Cipriani is an English rugby union footballer who currently plays for Premiership team Sale Sharks. He plays fly-half, centre and fullback. He has played for London Wasps, ...more